Cops: Hempstead man arrested on gun, drug charges

A suspect tried to elude police by running through backyards and streets in Roosevelt late Saturday night, but Nassau police officers chased after him, caught and arrested him on gun and drug possession charges, police said. Joshua Daren Hill, 18, of Hempstead, faces charges of criminal possession of a weapon, criminal possession of stolen property and criminal possession of a controlled substance,...

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A suspect tried to elude police by running through backyards and streets in Roosevelt late Saturday night, but Nassau police officers chased after him, caught and arrested him on gun and drug possession charges, police said.

Joshua Daren Hill, 18, of Hempstead, faces charges of criminal possession of a weapon, criminal possession of stolen property and criminal possession of a controlled substance, police said in a Monday morning news release.

The arrest came at around 11:30 p.m. as Bureau of Special Operations police officers were conducting a robbery investigation in Roosevelt.

The officers saw Hill walking south on Babylon Turnpike and when they approached him he ran away through backyards on Allers Boulevard, police said.

When the officers caught him on East Centennial Avenue, police said, they found he had more than 20 prescription painkiller pills.

Police said the weapon charges stem from a gun found nearby. They said, "a .22 caliber handgun that was reported stolen in Suffolk County in December of 2010 was later recovered in the front yard of a residence on Harts Avenue."

Arraignment information was not immediately available Monday.

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